All posts tagged Brickstream

Shoppers may soon learn which stores have been watching them as they stroll through the aisles.

Over the last two years, retailers such as Nordstrom have hired software firms that gather Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals emitted from smartphones to monitor shoppers’ movements around stores. They use the data to study things like wait times at the check-out line and how many people who browse actually make a purchase.

Most of the time, consumers have no idea that they’re being tracked.

Now that could change. In response to growing public unease about privacy, on Tuesday a group of companies providing retailers with location tracking services agreed to give consumers notice that they are tracking them — and to encourage retail companies they work with to post instructions explaining how to opt-out of tracking. Read More »